How our corgis talk to us

I had an interesting little experience last night with Brodie and it made me think I should start a thread where we can share these stories. Corgis are so smart and they want to talk to us that they find creative ways to communicate. I'd love to hear your stories about how your babies tell you things!

Last night, I was sitting in my recliner and Brodie jumped up in my lap, which is totally normal. What wasn't normal was that he was totally focused on the aquarium next to the recliner. He's never shown a bit of interest in it before. I started looking, thinking the fish must be swimming really close to the side and he was watching it, but there was no fish in sight. Then I started worrying he would pounce on the aquarium and break it, so I tried to distract him from it. He wouldn't have it. He kept edging toward it and whining. So me being me, I started talking to him about it, "Brodie, it's just water, leave it alone." His ears perked up and he gave me that signature head tilt when I said the word 'water', like "YES! YOU GOT IT, MOM!" So, I said, "Is that it? Are you wanting water? Is your bowl empty?" He immediately jumped down and ran to the water bowl in the kitchen. It was dry as a bone! As soon as I filled it, he had a good drink and was totally happy. I thought that was pretty sharp of him to realize there was water in the aquarium and use that to communicate his need to me!

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There have been instances on walks when I've been going one way and Lucy wants to go a different route. Nothing unusual, right? What I find remarkable is that she will "tell" me which way she wants to go by looking in that direction and back at me, then back in that direction.

She doesn't bark to get my attention (except early in the morning when she needs to go out for poop and pee--a low woof gets me up),but instead will stare intently, lock eyes with me, with ears perked up. She does this when she wants to go out and combined with chop-licking, do this when she wants water, esp. if I am at the sink (not necessarily running the water). I'll run through her vocabulary until I hit the right one, indicated by nub wag and head tilt. So cute, I can't stand it!!

I find her communication skills remarkable. Whenver my neighbor sees her, she asks "has Timmie fallen down the well?" Recalling Lassie shows, obviously. I swear Lucy would be the one who could go get help should I become stranded on a trail!!!.

Snickers would not be like Lassy or Lucy. A funny thing she does; Snickers will brush past my legs, then BUMP me with her back end. Always when it's breakfast time and I'm standing at the counter reading the paper instead of feeding her.

Baxter and I finished agility training one night and we were driving back home. I was petting him and he just kept looking at me, sort of smiling. Every time I would try to pet him, he would just give me this look. After a few more minutes it was like he used his super telepathic corgi powers to tell me, "water!" I pulled out his water bowl and sure enough that's what he wanted. After that, he curled up in the seat and took a nap. They definitely do speak to us.

Seanna just stares at me, and stares at me, and then lets out a little woof, then a humpf, then a bark. Until I figure out what it is-- it's usually something simple. Like food, go outside, "can I chase the kitty?", I want to eat, my balls under the couch, I want to eat....

well..... I think Luna actually talks to me. If she's sitting on the floor next to my chair staring at me she wants food. If she gets up on her hind legs and puts a paw on my leg, she wants in my lap, but..........

If she gets up on her hind legs and puts a paw on my leg and says "Ooooooouuuuuuuwww" she wants...."Out."

I am loving these stories! Having dogs that are so communicative is a whole new experience for me. Sam (my Dalmatian) was by far the most intelligent dog I had ever had, but he was not a talker. He was a listener. The only time he talked was to say "There's some dude out here that looks suspicious, call the cops!" Otherwise, he was all about "What do you want from me, Mom?" Both Kadi and Brodie are talkative, and not just barking. They make a whole array of sounds and gestures to tell me what they want. I'm having so much fun learning their language!

My Benson usually gives a "nibble", it is kind of him just rubbing his teeth on my leg,then an intense stare, this is usually followed by an intense desire to spill the bowl of popcorn in his direction,ooooh that stare...

Yoda is a gentleman, he would ask to do a lot of stuff. Yoda would nudge the water bowl when he wants water. He would also sit next to the couch and look at me for permission to get on the couch. He would also nudge me to go out for walk. All in all Yoda is really polite for a Corgi.

I give Tomahawk alone time with some of his favorite toys in the living room while I'm up and about cleaning or whatever. After a few minutes, I can hear him pounding down the hallway looking for me. When he finds me, he gives me this intense stare, and starts to walk slowly back to the living room all the while looking back every so often to make sure I am following him. He will usually lead me to a toy stuck under the couch and will start sighing and humpfing until I get down on my knees and get it for him. I never get anything done because he tends to to this every couple of minutes or so. I think he does it on purpose.

Also, he tends to wake up at around 6 every morning to let me know he needs to go outside. He usually scratches at the door first, and that usually gets me going, but if I stay in bed and refuse to move, he will come and nudge me with his nose. As a last resort, he will hop on the bed and claw at my face. At that point, I know he is very upset and in desperate need to go potty. He is the biggest jerk I know, but I love him dearly.

Lemmy has this little manly "rrruf-" he does when he feels I should be alerted to something, like a noise outside or yesterday when I knocked pans on the floor, he circled them and just made this manly ruff until I picked them up. If the water bowl is empty, he'll dig in it until I refill it, so all I'll here is plastic scrapping from the kitchen. Most times Pilot gets impatient, picks it up in his mouth and drops it next to me like " women! get in dat kitchen and pour us some water!".It's so cute ^_^Pilots not a corgi, but no matter what he's doing, if I start crying he stops. He comes right over, and sits as close to me as he can, puts his paw and big goofy head on my lap and looks up at me with those dopy brown eyes like, " It's ok Mama, I'm here" Then I hug him and he'll rest his head on my shoulder and stay that way until Im done crying. It's very comforting to know my boy is there for me no matter what.

Murray will lie on his side next to you and motion with his head (kind of throwing it back) toward his tummy to get a tummy rub. He rides in the back seat (folded down) of my Baja and if I forget to tell him where we're going he taps me on the shoulder with his paw until I let him know. I live in a second floor apt of my own building and created an emergency dirt potty area at one end of the concrete deck. He doesn't like to potty at home, but on the very rare occasions where he needs to go out in the middle of the night, he will wake me up, run to the door leading downstairs first to let me know he needs to go out, then run to the other end of the apt. to the "upstairs" door to be let out to the deck. Somehow he knows that I am not into getting up and dressed in the middle of the night to take him downstairs.